tens of millions of people are preparing for the wrath of hurricane sandy. the potential superstorm is expected to skrech from north carolina to maine and could cost billions of dollars of damage. it's about 350 miles off the coast of south carolina with winds at 75 miles per hour. this storm is so big it could actually have an impact on the presidential election. it's already forcing the candidates to change their campaign stops. we've got reporters in place tracking the storm for us. athena jones is in alexandria, virginia. and george howell is there in kill devil hills, north carolina. let's start with you, george, where we see the winds have picked up and so has the surf. what's it feeling like there? >> yeah, winds definitely have picked up here, and we're starting to feel the rain. earlier, it was just rain showers that were coming down. now we're feeling that sideways wind, a clear indication the storm is moving closer to us. in fact, this area on the outer banks, we'll really be along the front lines seeing the storm as it pushes inland. again, we kn